By Still Going On They Broke It,
And, Being Carried Away Down The Stream, It Was Lost On A Snag.
In Vain I Tried To Bring To My Recollection The Way I Had Been Taught
To Measure A River By Taking An Angle With The Sextant.
That I once knew it,
and that it was easy, were all the lost ideas I could recall, and they only
increased my vexation.
However, I measured the river farther down
by another plan, and then I discovered that the Portuguese had measured it
at Tete, and found it a little over one thousand yards. At the falls
it is as broad as at Tete, if not more so. Whoever may come after me
will not, I trust, find reason to say I have indulged in exaggeration.*
With respect to the drawing, it must be borne in mind that it was composed
from a rude sketch as viewed from the island, which exhibited
the columns of vapor only, and a ground plan. The artist has given
a good idea of the scene, but, by way of explanation, he has shown
more of the depth of the fissure than is visible except by going
close to the edge. The left-hand column, and that farthest off,
are the smallest, and all ought to have been a little more tapering
at the tops.
-
* The river is about one mile (1.6 km) wide at the falls, and plunges
over 350 feet at the centre. Livingstone greatly underestimated
both distances.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 779 of 1070
Words from 223670 to 223922
of 306638
